Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21
Dear heavenly Father, how I long for the day when I will no longer be tempt-able, deceivable, or capable of worshiping any other “god” but you. Hasten that most awesome of all Days.
I so look forward to an eternity of giving you the adoration, affection, attention, and allegiance of which you alone are worthy. No one redeems, loves, or cares for us like you. There is no God but you.
In Jesus, you’ve already given us a new heart and have placed your Spirit inside us—you’ve turned our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (Ezek. 36:25-27). We now yearn to know and love you (Jer. 24:7) and obey your law, now written upon our hearts (Jer. 31:33). Your generosity is beyond measure; your steadfast love is never-ending; your mercies are new every morning, and all day long.
Indeed, Father, you’ve already given me a perfectly forgiven heart—yet it is far from being a fully perfected heart. The battle for my heart’s worship continues, daily and relentlessly. This conflict will persist until the Day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus, the warning in today’s Scripture, to keep myself from idols, is not going away.
Father, there are some idols I run from like the plague; some I feed like a new puppy; but others I don’t even recognize as idols. It’s easy to see the idols outside of me, but help me to discern the “idols of the heart” (Ezek. 14:4). Help me to know when I’ve made a good thing an ultimate thing. When I don’t think you’re “enough,” show me where I too readily turn for life, deliverance, and salvation. Show me these things by showing me more of the beauty and bounty of Jesus.
Father, I praise you for the assurance that I’m already one of your “beloved children.” You cannot love me more than you already do, and you’ll never love me less. Surely the gospel—this gospel, will win the day, my heart, and the entire cosmos. So very I pray, in Jesus’ worship-worthy and trust-worthy name.
